The Three R’s: Resolution, Resourcefulness, Resilience

The New York Times published “The Secrets of the Centenarians” in last week’s Science Times. The numbers of Americans aged 100 have risen from 38,300 in 1990 to 104,099 in 2009. “Extreme longevity” according to Jane Brody requires some certain skill sets. As part of the two part series appearing in The Times, Brody’s colleague interviewed members of the century club. One of them summed up three critical attributes for longevity: resolution, resourcefulness and resilience.

Here in brief, are some answers to the question that centenarians are often asked.

What is the secret to long life?

I always put anything disagreeable or bad out of the way. That’s the secret of life. Don’t emphasize anything that is evil or bad, but get rid of it or rise above it.
-Travilla Demming, 100
I wore heels at my 90th birthday.
-Gladys D’Less, 100
Look for the second part in this week’s NYT’s Science Times and visit an audio slide show online at www.nytimes.com. As New York elder law attorneys, we counsel members of the century club. It is one of the greatest privileges of this field of law.